Rural School Leadership Styles in Guizhou, China

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 4:55 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Superintendent and Central Office Administrator Perspectives (Table 23)

Abstract

Rural school leaders are confronting the fast changes of rural development under China’s national strategy of Rural Revitalisation, yet the nature and motivations of their leadership remain understudied. This study examined school leadership in an underdeveloped county of Guizhou, China. Qualitative data were collected for phenomenological and narrative analyses. The case study consisted of an online survey, school observations, and semi-structured interviews with local officials, teachers, and school leaders. The findings revealed that school leaders were motivated by evaluation, inspiration, or sense of mission. Instructional leadership and collaborative leadership were most visible, while distributed and transformational leadership were least visible in the six case schools. In conclusion, rural school leadership is diversified in styles and its motivation is multifaceted.

Authors

• Lihuan Chen, The University of Hong Kong

• Priya Goel, California State University - Dominguez Hills